Santa Rosa chamber CEO to head Napa County Farm Bureau

The chief executive officer of the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber has been tapped to take over as the permanent head of the Napa County Farm Bureau, he said Monday in an email to chamber board members.

Peter Rumble said he will depart his current position sometime after Labor Day to become the farm bureau’s chief executive.

“I was not looking for another opportunity. I have been blessed by how supportive and encouraging this board has been,” Rumble said in the email. “However, some personal factors made me open to listening to an opportunity that came calling.”

Rumble will be permanently filling a position that was vacated when the farm bureau’s previous leader, Ryan Klobas, died by apparent suicide on Jan. 16 in Orinda.

Tawny Tesconi, who retired as executive director of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau in 2022, has been serving as interim director of the Napa agency since February.

Rumble’s announcement comes months after the U.S. Department of Justice subpoenaed the Napa County Farm Bureau for information related to its political action committee, the Fund to Protect Napa Valley Agriculture.

It’s one of several Napa County organizations and agencies that the DOJ has turned to as part of a countywide investigation for reasons yet to be disclosed.

Rumble wrote in his email Monday that a “transition plan” is expected to be presented during this month’s Santa Rosa Metro Chamber Board meeting. He said the chamber’s finances are “solid” and he will be leaving it with an ”extremely high-performing“ team.

“I anticipate a smooth transition, and all of that success to continue under your guidance and new leadership in this position,” he said in his email to board members.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi